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OPERATION OF FEED AND THREAD BOXES IN MACHINE-TOOLS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

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H. R. BRUET March 24, 1964 OPERATION OF FEED AND THREAD BOXES IN MACHINE-TOOLS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 9, 1961 March 24, 1964 H. R. BRUET 3,125,891

OPERATION OF FEED AND THREAD BOXES IN MACHINE-TOOLS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig 5 49 25-26 50 Va/77W \Y HENR/ RENE Muir fli mevs United States Patent 3,125,891 OPERA'HGN (BF FEED AND THREAD BQXES IN MACHlNE TGULS Henri Rene Bruet, Paris, France, assignor to Etablisse= ments A. Cazeneuve, La hlaine-Saint-Denis, France, a French company Filed .lan. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 81,486 Claims priority, application France Jan. 12, M60

, 9 tllairns. (Cl. 74-348) The present invention relates to improvements in the operation of feed and thread boxes in machine-tools,

The invention has for its object to make this operation rapid and to make it easy for the operator to select feeds or threads without making mistakes or wrong movements.

More specifically, the invention relates to a device for operating the sliding pinion of a feed control box on a machine-tool, of the type comprising a sliding pinion adapted to move along a shaft carried by a support which is capable of swinging about the axis of a driving shaft, on which is fixed an elongated pinion remaining engaged with the sliding pinion in all the positions of this latter, the said pinion being thus brought at will into engagement with any one of the wheels of different diameters coupled to a driven shaft parallel with the preceding shafts; and the main improvement in operating devices of this type and forming the object of the present invention consists of a mechanism providing a coupling between the said support and the sliding pinion, the said mechanism being such as to cause the position of the said sliding pinion along its shaft to depend on the position occupied by the said shaft on the circular path which the said sliding pinion is made to describe as a result of the rotation of the said support, in such manner that the movement of the sliding pinion into any desired position of engagement with any one of the driven wheels is car;

ried out in asingle and continuous movement effected in the same direction bythe operating lever, by means of g which the said support is thus caused to rotate.

The invention additionally consists in that, by means of levers, countershafts, slide-blocks or the like, a pallet in which is formed a reversible slide-rail and locking recesses is coupled to a frameor the like, so that the swinging movement of the above-mentioned pallet pros duces the combined displacement, either in a straight line The invention additionally consists in other complernentary arrangements whichwili be brought out in the course of the complementary description which follows below, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which, together with the description, are given by way of example only and not in any sense by way of limitation.

As shown in the figures:

Pi a. liillustrates in longitudinal cross-section, the feed and thread box; 7

FIG. 2 illustrates the transverse cross-section of the said box; I 7

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the grid controlling the engagement of the pinions of the above-mentioned box; v i i FIG. 4 illustrates the external transverse view at the end opposite to that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrammatically, seen from the front, the operation of the visual indicator, or frame;

The small inset figure a illustrates a detail of FIG. 4.

or in circular motion or the like, of the said frame which.

coupled the pinions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ill, 11,12 and 14;

with each of these gears there can be engaged if so required, the sliding pinion 15 which slides along the shaft 17, while the said sliding pinion remains engaged with the pinion 1h.

The shaft 17, which is parallel to the shaft 3, is fitted on the casing 1% with which it constitutes a swinging geartrain carrier having its axis along xx', and controlled by the lever Zil located outside the casing 31. On the shaft 21 carrying the pinion 16 is keyed a toothed wheel 22 which engages with the gear 23, this latter being concentric with the shaft 3 and rigidly coupled for rotation with the lead screw 2. In a boss of the pivoting casing 18 is fixed a finger 25, as shown'in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, preferably provided with a rotating ring 26 which engages in a groove 27 formed in a pallet 28 which is keyed on to a shaft 29 adapted to rotate in a bore formed in the casing 1. 0n the shaft 2% is fixed a lever 30 provided with a groove 31 in which is engaged the finger 32 rigidly fixed to the slide-block 33 carrying a frame 34 forming a visual indicator. The slide-block 33 can be displaced along a shaft 35 fixed in the casing l. A spring 37 constantly tends to bring back the slide-block$3 towards the right hand side of the figure, as shown in FIGS. 3 I

and 5.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5 show the pallet 28 which is keyed on to the shaft 29, and in which is formed the groove 27 which is orientated in such manner as to form along its entire length a reversible slide-rail provided for the ring 26 of the finger 25 which is capable of applying along the axis Y Y' a pressure P against the lower face 33 of the said slide-rail. This pressure can be produced by the operation of the lever 20 which causes the casing 18 to rotate in opposition to the torsion spring 44 and applies the ring 26 of the finger 25 against the base 38" of the groove 27, thereby having the effect of producing,

towards the left hand side of the figure, a force p which is sufiicient to overcome the resistance of the restoring spring 37 and to bring the pallet 28 from the position 5 5' on the extreme right to the position 56 on the extreme left asshown in FIG. 5, orin intermediate positions such have asuitable depth, there can be housed the ring 26 of the finger 25 when, after the lever 20 has been released, the spring at lifts the casing 18 for the purpose of bringing the sliding pinion 15 towards the position of engagement with one of the pinions which are keyed on the shaft 3. As it swings from the position 55 to the position 56, the pallet 28 moves the sliding pinion 15 along the shaft 17 by means of thefork 51. The said sliding pinion 15 can be locked in a fixed position each time the ring 26 of the finger Z5 is engaged in one of the recesses such as the recess 46, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. The ten recesses are arranged so that the pinion 15 is located opposite with respect to one of the ten pinionstkeyed on the shaft 3 and the depth of these recesses is designed soas to ensure that, when the lever 2% is released, the pinion 15 engages correctl under the action of the spring 40, with the gear facing opposite to the said pinion. At every position which is pre-determined by the recesses, there is a corresponding orientation of the pallet 23, of the lever 30, of the slide-block 33 and of the frame 34 which is thus moved into ten different positions, each of which will correspond to an engagement of the pinion 15 with one of the pinions which are keyed on the shaft 3, with the result that ten different speeds can thus be given to the lead screw 2. In these ten positions, the frame 34 is made to include or outline ten columns having the axes 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 6'7, 68 and 69, as shown in FIG. 5, in which the pitch and feed numbers can be inscribed and, when combined with other devices which have not been shown in the drawings, this frame provides a means of choosing either the feed or the thread desired. A touch-plate 3d mounted externally with respect to the casing l and rigidly fixed to the slide-block 33 follows the movement of the frame 34.

The operation takes place as follows:

The pallet 28 is, for example, drawn by the spring 37 towards the extreme right into the position 55, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5; the ring 26 of the finger 25 is located in the recess 41; the sliding pinion 15 is then engaged with the toothed wheel 14. If the lever 2% is pulled in the direction of the arrow F, the gear-train carrier 18 is caused to rotate, thereby having the effect of disengaging the sliding pinion 15 from the wheel 14- and the subsequent effect of applying the ring 26 against the reversible slide-rail 38, thereby creating the force p which produces a swinging movement, towards the left, of the pallet 2% which, by means of the fork Sll, is capable of moving the sliding pinion 15 from its position opposite to the toothed wheel 14 up to the position 56 in front of the pinion 4. At the same time, the pallet 2% drives by means of the lever 30 both the slide-block 33 and the frame 34 which is rigidly fixed to the said slide-block from the position on the column having its axis at 6? to the position on the column having its axis at 66); in this end position, the ring 26 and its finger 25 are oppositely facing the recess 5%. If, under these conditions, the lever 20 is released, the ring 26 and its finger 25 move into the said recess, thereby permitting the engagement of the sliding pinion 15 with the pinion 4. In order to facilitate the introduction of the ring 26 and of the finger 25 in the recess 50, the frame 34 can be immobilized in the position mentioned by pressing on the touch-plate 3?. The pallet 28 is thus held locked in this end position in which the spring 37 is stretched out to the maximum. When the said pallet is unlocked as a result of the action of the lever 2f), the spring 37 restores the pallet to its initial position 55 while the lever 29 returns at the same time to its starting position 58.

The pallet 28 can be brought to rest in any one of the ten possible positions by engaging the ring 26 and its finger 25 in an intermediate recess for example, as shown in FIG. 3, in which the ring 26 and its finger 25 have been introduced in the recess 46, thereby permitting the engagement of the sliding pinion 15 with the pinion 8 which is keyed on the shaft 3. Under these conditions, since the shaft 3 supplies the driving effort, the lead screw 2 is driven by means of the pinion 3, the sliding pinion IS, the pinion 16, the toothed wheel 22 and the gear 23 which is rigidly coupled for rotation with the said lead screw 2. The same process will take place in the case of each position occupied by the ring 26 and its finger 25 in each of the recesses of the pallet 28, thereby having the result of providing ten different speeds of rotation of the lead screw 2.

It is of course understood that the present invention is in no way limited to those forms or arrangements which have been described in the foregoing and which have been given solely by way of example, but is intended to bring within its scope all devices of a comparable or similar type comprising all or a part of the devices proposed, as well as all methods of application of the invention, in particular to feed and thread boxes of machinetools.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine-tool provided with a feed-control box including a casing, a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an intermediary shaft, all said shafts being parallel and located in said casing, a sliding pinion adapted to slide along said intermediary shaft, a carrier journaled in said box to be capable of being swung about the axis of said driving shaft and by which said intermediary shaft is rotatably carried, an elongated pinion secured onto said driving shaft and remaining engaged with said sliding pinion in a plurality of positions of this latter along its shaft, a plurality of toothed wheels having different diameters secured on said driven shaft and with which said sliding pinion can be brought selectively into engagemen-t, a control member by means of which said carrier can be swung and locking means whereby said sliding pinion can be retained selectively in any one of the aforesaid plurality of positions, a device for shifting said sliding pinion along said intermediary shaft and comprising motion transmitting means from said carrier to said sliding pinion, so as to impart to thelatter a shifting motion along its shaft in response to a swinging motion imparted by said control member to said carrier and in dependance on the swinging stroke of the latter so that the position of the sliding pinion on its shaft will depend on the position of said control member and therefore on the position occupied by said intermediary shaft on the circular path which the said shaft is made to describe as a result of the swinging motion of the said carrier, so that the axial shifting of the sliding pinion into any desired position for engagement with any one of the driven wheels will be carried out by a single and continuous movement imparted to said control member in one given direction.

2. In a machine-tool as in claim 1, a visual indicator device mounted externally with respect to said feed control box and comprising a feed-indicator panel and an index arranged for mutual cooperation and one of which is in motion transmission relationship with said sliding pinion shifting device in such manner that the relative position of said index and panel depends on the position of the sliding pinion and thus indicates on the said panel the feed corresponding to this position of the sliding pinion.

3. In a machine-tool as in claim 1, said motion transmitting means including a finger provided on said carrier, a movable member provided with a reversible slide-rail located for cooperative engagement with said finger in such manner that pressure applied by the said finger against the said slide-rail will cause the said movable member to move in one direction, resilient means urging said movable member in contrary direction thereto, and means operatively connecting said movable member to the sliding pinion in such maner as to convert said movement of the movable member in one and the other direction into a corresponding displacement of said sliding pinion along its shaft.

4. In a machine-tool as in claim 3, powerful spring means urging said carrier to rotate in the direction pro ducing engagement of the sliding pinion with the driven toothed wheels, the slide-rail and the finger cooperating therewith being so located that simultaneously said finger will be moved away from the slide-rail and said locking means are arranged to cooperate with said movable member so as to enable the latter to be locked before said powerful spring has swung the carrier far enough to bring the sliding pinion into engagement with a driven wheel, so that said finger is held at rest away from said slide-rail by the action of said powerful spring means and the beginning of the rotation of the carrier in opposition to said powerful spring means by an action exerted on the control lever results first in the radial withdrawal,

and therefore disengagement of the teeth, of the said sliding pinion until the said finger comes into engagement with the said slide-rail.

5. In a machine-tool as in claim 3, said movable member being supported for swinging movement and the swinging axis of said movable member being at right angles to the axis of the sliding pinion and the said means which operatively connect said movable member to the sliding pinion consist of a fork closely embracing said pinion and fixed to said movable member.

6. In a machine-tool as in claim 3, motion transmitting means connecting said movable member to an index so as to impart to the latter a displacement the amplitude of which depends on the stroke of said movable member and a stationary feed-indicator panel cooperating with said index, said index and panel being located outside said casing.

7. In a machine-tool as in claim 3, said locking means including a series of recesses provided on said movable member and disposed successively over the length of the said slide-rail but opposite thereto With reference to said finger, the number of recesses being at least equal to the number of driven wheels and said finger being capable of engagement, according to the position of the movable member, in any one of said recesses, whereby locking with respect to each other and immobilizing the carrier and the said movable member in the position then occupied by these latter.

8. In a machine-tool as in claim 4, said locking means including a series of recesses provided on said movable member and disposed successively over the length of the said slide-rail but opposite thereto with reference to said finger, the number of recesses being at least equal to the number of driven wheels and said finger being capable of engagement, according to the position of the movable member, in any one of said recesses on its way off said slide-rail under the action of said powerful spring means.

9. In a machine-tool as in claim 3, said locking means comprising interlocking members provided on said movable member and carrier, respectively, and providing a plurality of interlocked positions of said movable memher and carrier together, each corresponding to a given position of the sliding pinion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 986,241 Stuhlmacher Mar. 7, 1911 1,481,486 Sundstrand Ian. 22, 1924 20 2,710,545 Ortlinhaus June 14, 1955 2,743,622 Haupt May 1, 1956 

1. IN A MACHINE-TOOL PROVIDED WITH A FEED-CONTROL BOX INCLUDING A CASING, A DRIVING SHAFT, A DRIVEN SHAFT, AN INTERMEDIARY SHAFT, ALL SAID SHAFTS BEING PARALLEL AND LOCATED IN SAID CASING, A SLIDING PINION ADAPTED TO SLIDE ALONG SAID INTERMEDIARY SHAFT, A CARRIER JOURNALED IN SAID BOX TO BE CAPABLE OF BEING SWUNG ABOUT THE AXIS OF SAID DRIVING SHAFT AND BY WHICH SAID INTERMEDIARY SHAFT IS ROTATABLY CARRIED, AN ELONGATED PINION SECURED ONTO SAID DRIVING SHAFT AND REMAINING ENGAGED WITH SAID SLIDING PINION IN A PLURALITY OF POSITIONS OF THIS LATTER ALONG ITS SHAFT, A PLURALITY OF TOOTHED WHEELS HAVING DIFFERENT DIAMETERS SECURED ON SAID DRIVEN SHAFT AND WITH WHICH SAID SLIDING PINION CAN BE BROUGHT SELECTIVELY INTO ENGAGEMENT, A CONTROL MEMBER BY MEANS OF WHICH SAID CARRIER CAN BE SWUNG AND LOCKING MEANS WHEREBY SAID SLIDING PINION CAN BE RETAINED SELECTIVELY IN ANY ONE OF THE AFORESAID PLURALITY OF POSITIONS, A DEVICE FOR SHIFTING SAID SLIDING PINION ALONG SAID INTERMEDIARY SHAFT AND COMPRISING MOTION TRANSMITTING MEANS FROM SAID CARRIER TO SAID SLIDING PINION, SO AS TO IMPART TO THE LATTER A SHIFTING MOTION ALONG ITS SHAFT IN RESPONSE TO A SWINGING MOTION IMPARTED BY SAID CONTROL MEMBER TO SAID CARRIER AND IN DEPENDANCE ON THE SWINGING STROKE OF THE LATTER SO THAT THE POSITION OF THE SLIDING PINION ON ITS SHAFT WILL DEPEND ON THE POSITION OF SAID CONTROL MEMBER AND THEREFORE ON THE POSITION OCCUPIED BY SAID INTERMEDIARY SHAFT ON THE CIRCULAR PATH WHICH THE SAID SHAFT IS MADE TO DESCRIBE AS A RESULT OF THE SWINGING MOTION OF THE SAID CARRIER, SO THAT THE AXIAL SHIFTING OF THE SLIDING PINION INTO ANY DESIRED POSITION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH ANY ONE OF THE DRIVEN WHEELS WILL BE CARRIED OUT BY A SINGLE AND CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT IMPARTED TO SAID CONTROL MEMBER IN ONE GIVEN DIRECTION. 